Reporters Would Have Been Forced to Leave the Country if Press Cards Weren't Renewed

SHANGHAI—China extended new press credentials to several reporters at the Bloomberg news agency and the New York Times, the groups said on Thursday, a step that appears designed to ease a recent source of tension between Washington and Beijing.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued 2014 press cards for an unspecified number of China-based reporters, the organizations said. For foreign reporters in China, a press card issued by...